


The Wrath of the Sea

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Sex, M/M, Mating Bond, Non-Human Genitalia, Size Difference, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:33:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29230044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “When you see one outside the waters, run, as fast as you can.” A neighbor once said as a warning before he left to do his errands. It was a reminder that he repeated every year when the tides were at its highest and there were less land to traverse on the edges of the forest.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 17
Kudos: 145
Collections: anonymous





	The Wrath of the Sea

If there was one thing Yuta was taught to believe as a young child, it was that the creatures of the seas were to be feared. They did not only possess unimaginable power, but they also had a knack for human flesh, a detail that was never backed by anything other than hearsay.

Yuta was not much of a stubborn child, but he was inexplicably drawn to the sea, to its depths and dangers and to the magic-wielding race that resided underneath the surface. The impulse was difficult to ignore as a kid, but it changed throughout the years, as he learned more of the tragic fates that befell anyone who dared to challenge the sea-dwellers.

“When you see one outside the waters, run, as fast as you can.” A neighbor once said as a warning before he left to do his errands. It was a reminder that he repeated every year when the tides were at its highest and there were less land to traverse on the edges of the forest.

His job involved him foraging through the undergrowth that cushioned the forest floor for herbs and flowers essential to their village apothecarists. The forest was close to the beach and was considered one of the most dangerous places to be, so orphans were often tasked to get the work done. Yuta had been running around this same forest for more than twenty years, and still, his heart would hammer against his chest every time the wind blew the wrong way.

The night was deep and the wind was near icy when Yuta set out to comb through the forest. Typically, he would go in the day when the sun was too bright for the canopy to filter out but tonight he was after a specific type of bioluminescent mushrooms that grew under piles of dried leaves or in the hollows of dead trees. They were extremely rare, growing only in specific conditions that only happened a few days in a year. It may be nearly impossible to find but he couldn’t go back empty handed.

Yuta’s eyes swept under leaves, straining in the darkness that continued to grow as he ventured further into the forest. The mushrooms were valued like gold, and apothecaries paid handsomely for them that foragers like him would go as far as risk their lives by coming too close to the sea.

It seemed the heavens were looking favorably down at Yuta that night because an undiscovered trail led him to several dried barks of age old. The branches had already been torn off by the sea breeze that buffeted the forest. In between them glowed a perfect mix of blue and magenta. He had found a couple of them the prior year, so he knew exactly what it was supposed to look like.

Yuta bent down to pick the mushrooms and secure them in his bag in a rush. It was never ideal to stay any longer than necessary.

His attention was so divided between cleaning the mushrooms off the barks and trying not to fall into any invisible pits that he had missed the strange scent in the air that only got stronger when he turned towards the source. Yuta looked away, calming his heart and completely missing what had been standing behind the shadows, until it stirred.

With a sudden shock that he would feel down to the tips of his fingers, Yuta turned back to the shadows, finally making out the figure. A strange figure that didn’t belong on land and one that no living person had lived to describe in detail.

Anyone who had the misfortunate of glimpsing a sea-dweller had done so from a safe distance, surely not a few paces away in a secluded part of the forest. After his senses had recovered from the shock, his neighbor's voice rang in his ears, “Run,” he said with his entire chest, “Because their kind would never allow you to live.”

So Yuta did just that, sprang up his feet and taking off to the direction he was sure would only lead him away from the village, but he couldn’t just turn around and risk being caught. Branches snagged on his clothes and his cheeks stung from possible cuts but he could hear it, the swift and effortless strides of their kind.

The magic trickled from their being and their presence set ice in his veins.

The weight that tackled him to the ground had not been as heavy as he had imagined but it still knocked the breath out of his lips and he still cried out in fear and surprise until he was rolled onto his back and his mouth was muffled with a webbed hand.

The creature looked down at Yuta with overwhelmingly black eyes that were much too big to be human and smooth, pale blue skin that felt rubbery against his own. The face was surprisingly more similar to a human, saved for the row of sharp teeth and the gills that flared at its neck.

It leaned down to take a long sniff of Yuta, those sharp teeth coming too close for comfort. He became aware of how big the creature was compared to him when it removed its hand from his face and he realized that it had been blocking both his mouth and nose from how air burned on its way in as he took a lungful of it.

“The mushrooms.” The creature said, male, judging from the voice.

“I don’t have them.” Yuta breathed out and it was possibly the wrong thing to say considering this sea-dweller had him pinned to the ground without chance for escape.

“You do.” The words were accompanied by a pressure around his neck and Yuta’s hands shot up to push against the creature. His palms met the strange smoothness to the bluish skin and his heart picked up when he was regarded by the pair of beady black eyes like a piece of morsel.

“I need them.” For the money, and because the apothecarists knew he always found them during his yearly runs so he would surely be accused of stealing, perhaps cast away from the village if he was lucky. There were no mercies to be had for the orphans, it was the sad truth of his existence.

Perhaps being killed by an angry sea-dweller was better than being killed by his own people.

“Why? You do not have any use for them.”

“And what do you need them for? You have magic!” It was almost too brave of him, to scream that at the creature’s face when it could easily tear him to ribbons. It didn’t, merely opening its mouth to fuel the fear Yuta had not acknowledged until it was vibrating under his skin.

“We have that yes, but our kind too, is susceptible to death. Those mushrooms are essential for those who ail. What significance does it hold for your people?”

Yuta was forced to think back to the few conversations people entertained with him, on the purpose of the sought after potions made from the mushrooms. “They are said to cure infertility.” He was told, and he truly wondered at one point, if that had been enough reason to endanger his own life.

He closed his eyes, unable to keep them trained on the creature’s strangely familiar visage. He was convinced that if he stared any longer into the pair of obsidian pools he would be lost in them forever, just like how his strength was drained away at the moment the creature made physical contact.

“If I give them to you, I will be shunned by my village.” The creature’s face grew somber and Yuta was immediately struck by the fact that there was absolutely no truth in how the people had painted the sea-dwellers. They surely didn’t seem like the vicious, unfeeling creatures they were made out to be, not if he was reading the compassion correctly.

“Why is that? What makes you different from any of them?” The answer was simple, because Yuta had no parents, he belonged to no one. He was a burden that was only good for tasks that was deemed too dangerous for those who would be missed. He began to understand the sea-dweller’s shifting stance when he felt something cold brush against his consciousness.

So this was the magic the villagers spoke off.

“You’re inside my head.” He breathed out matter-of-factly. He should have realized it earlier, from the way the creature’s lips hardly moved throughout their conversation or how it fluently mimicked his language.

For a reason he couldn’t fathom, it didn’t bother Yuta as much as it should have to have the creature invade the solitude of his thoughts.The sea-dweller didn’t deny the accusation, nor did it confirm anything, instead it stared at Yuta like it was trying to bore under his skin, moving back slowly so all of its weight was not directly draped over him.

“Jaehyun.”

Yuta startled. “What?”

“That is my name, since I already know yours.”

The creature stuck out its webbed hands, the silken palm devoid of ridges and calluses.

Yuta’s stomach clenched but he threw caution to the wind when he sat up and upended the contents of his bag on the awaiting hands. The mushrooms illuminated the bluish skin and the smooth lines of the creature’s nose that didn’t look all too different from a human’s, he had what looked like hair too, Yuta realized, but the texture looked like the rest of him — slick and rubbery.

The muscles under the tight skin flexed as Jaehyun gathered the mushrooms and cradled them like precious things. It began to sink into Yuta how important those must be to their kind, to Jaehyun personally.

“Who are they for?” He asked before he could reel his curiosity in. The sea-dweller’s eyes locked with his and Yuta felt something hot pass through his spine, like liquid fire.

“They are for my mother.” The words sparked something unfamiliar in Yuta’s chest and unconsciously, he clutched the front of his tunic. Mother.

This creature, Jaehyun, belonged to a family — _he_ was someone’s child.

Yuta’s fists unclenched gradually and he took a deep breath that would help clear the haze in his head. The sun would be up soon, it wouldn’t do to stay in the forest any longer. Jaehyun might not have killed him but something else might, a wild animal, another sea-dweller.

“Would you let me go now? I gave you what you want.” Jaehyun was silent but he retreated, giving Yuta back his space. The scent of seawater left with him.

“You are free to go. I have no intention of dealing you harm.” He said in a deep rumble in Yuta’s head. He must have seen into Yuta’s initial fears, perhaps was also privy to his thoughts about becoming an unwanted meal for the creature.

“You have dealt harm to others.”

“We only defend ourselves. Your kind have come at us with the purpose to kill.”Rising to his full height, Jaehyun was as massive as Yuta had initially thought, standing a full head and half taller and body rippling with lean muscles that were perfect for traversing the treacherous waves. Yuta had never been anywhere close to the ocean, so he could only assume the power of its currents.

Brushing the dirt and leaves off his clothes and wincing from the sting of the cuts and scrapes he had obtained from his tumble, Yuta graced the tall figure with one final look. There was a strange feeling churning in his belly at the thought of goodbye when he should be feeling relief from finally parting from Jaehyun’s ominous presence.

“I hope they work.” He said a final time before retracing his steps from memory. He knew the woods like the back of his hand and knew he wouldn’t stray despite his shakiness from the encounter but he felt Jaehyun’s consciousness with him, perhaps guiding him, until he was back on familiar grounds.

His mind was freed from the sea-dweller’s influence when he stepped back into civilization. Now he had the more unforgiving task of explaining why he was back with his hands and knees scraped raw and an empty bag.

x

It was not goodbye, it turned out, because Jaehyun was standing in the same place where he found him for the first time the next time Yuta ventured into the forest. His unblinking eyes looked blacker than what his memory supplied and something heavy came over Yuta’s chest when they locked gazes.

“What’s wrong? Did they not work?” He asked, approaching with little caution. Somehow he knew he would not be hurt, not like last time at least.

“I need more of it.” Jaehyun responded with his mind, pushing his thoughts against Yuta’s as unobtrusively as possible. The smell of the sea wafted over as Jaehyun closed the space between them, looking down at Yuta with the most expressive eyes.

There was no hesitation in his mind when he looked towards the direction of the dead woods. “Follow me, I’ll take you to find more of them.” The weight of the bag slung across his body didn’t deter his intention, not even the bruise on his cheek that still throbbed at the slightest brush of wind.

“You are hurt.” Jaehyun observed as they trudged through the thick undergrowth. His footsteps were light as breeze, hardly making any noise. Yuta realized this was how his kind managed to get around on land undetected. Even the most seasoned hunters would not have been able to pinpoint their presence among the trees.

“That I am.”

“By your people.” The voice in his head sounded more grim, possibly hostile and Yuta shivered despite knowing it was not directed at him.

“I don’t need to tell you. You can see into my memories anyway.” He didn’t want that but it was easier than having to recall the blows that left his head spinning and his mouth bloody.

“I won’t. I will only look where you allow me to.” The response was unexpected but welcome.

They reached the place where Yuta had found the mushrooms the first time. He had not told a single soul about it, somehow aware that there was a possibility Jaehyun would come back for more of them. They only grew for a couple of days in a year, in three more days they would be completely gone, and so would Jaehyun’s hopes of saving his mother, if another forager happened upon them before the sea-dweller did.

“Take all of them. I’ll help you look for more.” The night was still young and they were far from the paths the others would have taken. They had time to collect as many as Jaehyun could carry back to his home.

“Why are you helping me?” Jaehyun staggered to a stop behind him as Yuta bent to reach for the mushrooms inside a hollow bark. The sea-dweller would have been to big to get them.

“I don’t know.” He blinked away the dryness in his eyes and winced at the sting. He had forgotten that one of them was swollen half-shut. Jaehyun watched him intently, diligently reaching for every mushroom Yuta passed to him.

When they were finished sweeping the area for anything that remotely glowed, they made their way back to the same place where they met. Yuta belatedly realized that the path Jaehyun had been taking led directly to the beach. His eyes lit up with wonder at the newfound information.

“What is it like?”

“The ocean? It’s very deep and vivid and full of everything you can only imagine here on land, and there’s no end to it.”

Yuta caught a mushroom that slipped from Jaehyun’s hold. His hands might be big but not enough to keep all of them in place. He wondered how Jaehyun planned to carry them back but then remembered he had magic. Yuta shouldn’t be surprised if he could make invisible webs to keep his valuable package in place.

“That sounds scary.” He said instead, “but also really wonderful.” He could only imagine what it was like to be free.

“You will like it there.” The sea-dweller continued, surprising Yuta by taking a careful step towards him, bringing his head down to brush his cheek against Yuta’s. The action caused a little stir and Yuta closed his eyes and his skin was warm, tingling even, but he couldn’t understand why until Jaehyun pulled away and the throbbing from his face was suddenly gone.

“Also, I do not produce magical webs, I will crush these by the beach and wrap it with seaweed to carry back to the sea.”

Yuta’s cheeks burned, his mouth opening and closing but unable to form a word. He didn’t need to, Jaehyun knew his thoughts before he could put them into words.

There was a rustle which snapped the sea-dweller’s attention beyond the trees. “Go.” Yuta whispered, “They’re the other foragers. You need to leave before they see you.”

Jaehyun nodded, coming close to press his forehead against Yuta’s briefly before disappearing in the darkness.

x

“Can I touch it?”

Jaehyun gave him a strange look, but it was nothing Yuta was not used to. The sea-dweller opened his mouth wider, displaying two rows of sharp teeth. Yuta tentatively touched a finger on each point, awed by how easily these teeth could tear at flesh. He retracted his hand and regarded the peaceful look on Jaehyun’s face as he sat against a tree.

There was no longer any need for him to waltz back on land, not after his mother had recovered, still, Jaehyun continued to his nightly visits to the forest and Yuta was always there to see him. It had been many days since the end of the bioluminescent mushrooms’ season and the village had been down in spirits from having collected none this year. It didn’t matter, Jaehyun’s mother was safe, and Yuta had not been suspected of theft as he had feared.

He sat back on his haunches and observed the muscles that defined Jaehyun’s abdomen, the tight ridges and the telltale slit below his torso, where his manhood would have been. Jaehyun’s eyes followed his throat as it bobbed.

“You can touch anywhere.” The sea-dweller concluded, his webbed hand closing around Yuta’s wrist to guide his hand where he knew his interest lied. Yuta was thankful for their connection, because he didn’t know how he would have voiced out such a request.

His fingers ghosted over the slit, feeling something throb underneath it. He probed a little harder with a little jerk from Jaehyun and it parted to reveal a slick head, smaller in girth than an average human’s manhood but longer, Yuta observed, as it poked out of the little pocket. He wrapped his hand around it, the silkiness unlike the rest of Jaehyun’s skin which he had explored with patience every time they met. He withdrew his hand with a gasp when he realized what he was doing.

“I’m sorry, that was not appropriate.”

Jaehyun’s teeth peeked from his lips when he protested with a mental voice, “Why not?”

“This is something done between lovers.” He explained with a moment’s hesitation, looking down at his lap. Jaehyun tipped his head back with his hand, gazing straight into his soul.

“Are we not that?”

Yuta gaped, “We are -“ and then decided. “I don’t know what we are.”

“Mates.” Jaehyun supplied firmly. His voice was like silk and honey in Yuta’s head, soothing and deep like it had come from the depths of a stone well. “We are mates. Only you can hear me.”

Yuta startled at the discovery. Jaehyun’s magic, he didn’t think it was reserved for him only.

“But how? I’m human.”

“I don’t know either but you’re mine as I am yours. I knew it from the moment I first saw you.” Yuta felt weak, like his limbs were not his own. He couldn’t believe that a sea-dweller, a creature humans regarded with both fear and hatred, was claiming Yuta as his. So this was what it felt like, to belong to someone else.

Jaehyun must have felt his overflowing elation because he pulled Yuta closer, guiding him until he was sitting on the sea-dweller’s lap. “So you can touch all you want.”

He nodded, hand returning to the base of Jaehyun’s length where the pocket had retreated into his body. It was strange but the pleased sounds the sea-dweller was letting out fuelled his actions. He circled his fingertips around it and watched it twitch at the same time Jaehyun’s hand rode down his clothed back, slipping under his tunic.

“You can too. Touch me, I mean.” Yuta clarified, in case the shortness of his breath was not enough indication. Jaehyun’s eyes glazed over and they looked beadier than normal when he dove down to sniff at his neck.

Yuta pushed his trousers down his thighs with one hand, the other kept the steady pace around Jaehyun.

“Would you let yourself be mine?” The sea-dweller asked as he trailed his teeth over Yuta’s skin. He arched from the sensation, wanting more of Jaehyun but knowing it would hurt.

“Yes. Yes you can have me.” Yuta lifted himself on his knees as he said the words, allowing Jaehyun’s cock to slide between his buttocks with his guidance. The sea-dweller trembled when he breached the ring of muscle and Yuta inhaled deeply to stop himself from instinctively pushing him out.

Jaehyun’s mind, cool like the breeze from the sea, enveloped his consciousness, tuning the pain and discomfort out and allowing himself to burrow into Yuta’s tight heat. There was natural slickness coating Jaehyun that made his entry easier.

“Ahh!” Yuta gasped out loud when Jaehyun brushed that spot. His mate took note of the reaction and the pleasure they shared mentally and aim for the same place. Yuta’s cock was trapped between them, pressed into Jaehyun’s abdomen. He yearned for friction but Jaehyun’s cock was too long and he feared any drastic motion would risk hurting his innards.

Jaehyun took the cue to wrap his big hand around Yuta, the natural texture of his palm catching on his skin, giving way to a completely new sensation.

“So good, Jaehyun -“ Jaehyun responded with a contented moan and resumed leisurely teasing that sensitive place inside him. Jaehyun’s cock was only halfway in but Yuta could already feel it distending his belly in what anyone else might find horrifying but he felt safe in Jaehyun’s arms.

“Perfect.” Jaehyun whispered in his head as he was filled to the brim, his own body convulsing as he drifted closer to completion. He didn’t hold long, dirtying Jaehyun’s skin and his trousers with his come. Jaehyun held him through it, twisting to extract himself slowly.

“Perfect for me.” He repeated, licking up Yuta’s cheek. Yuta’s arms snaked around Jaehyun’s neck, rubbing against his gills and exhaling in pleasure.

“-…with you forever.” He murmured to which the sea-dweller urged him mentally to repeat so he did, clearer this time. “I want to stay with you forever.”

x

The bliss that their repeated trysts in the forest brought him was short-lived. Yuta should have known that happiness was never a permanent thing, not for him at least.

The understanding came to him just as the door to his shack was torn down by a mob of angry villagers brandishing stakes and machetes. He had no time to put his boots on, grappling with his window in a hope to escape into the forest. It was long ways away but it was his only chance.

He managed to slip out but not without cutting himself on a jagged edge, halting his escape long enough for the men to give chase. He could hear their screams of ‘get him!’ and ‘he’s conspiring with a sea-dweller!’ as a rush of adrenaline spurred him forward, cutting his feet on sharp pebbles and stray twigs.

The sight of the woods filled him with comfort. He would make it, he could easily lose his pursuersin the winding darkness of the forest despite the blood he was undoubtedly trailing behind.

He was a breath away from freedom, or what he thought of it, when he was finally pinned down. In the end, there were too many of them and Yuta’s legs were not strong enough to maintain his speed. He thrashed despite his imminent death at the hands of the people he once thought of as home.

“Did you give the mushrooms to the sea-dwellers?!”

“I didn’t! I swear, I d-“ He was struck on the face and he tried to roll away from the pain only to be stopped by a grip on his neck. It was funny how he found himself in the same exact situation, only humans were scarier than the monster he was taught to fear.

“Someone saw you fornicating with the sea-dweller, and you dare lie to our faces?! You disgusting - “ The words were sliced out of the man’s throat and blood sprayed on Yuta’s face. He shrieked as the man fell back clutching his neck, gasping for breath. The other villagers looked on, horrified, their eyes turning on Yuta immediately.

“What did you do!?”

He didn’t have a chance to blink, Jaehyun’s silhouette cut through the shadows swiftly. He was on another man instantly, bloody claws digging into flesh and bones. Screams filled the silence and Yuta saw for the first time what the feared creatures were capable of, angered.

There were no need for words to be exchanged, Yuta could feel the comfort Jaehyun extended through their mental bond without having to look at his eyes. Eyes which stared down the rest of the villagers in a bloodthirsty frenzy.

They ran but the moment Jaehyun disappeared from his sight and the screams were silenced, Yuta knew he got all of them. There would be more, surely the village would hear about the carnage in the woods and he would be hunted.

There will no longer be a safe place for Yuta. The thought brought tears to his eyes but Jaehyun was back in controlled strides, looking no worse for the wear.

“Come with me.” He said, webbed fingers spreads out in invitation in front of him. “Come home with me.” Yuta understood once what he meant and he took the hand without a moment of hesitation.

The beach was in view in a few quick strides and the loud waves were quieter than the roar of the village.The sand stuck to his bloodied feet but there was no pain as Jaehyun lead him to the waters, not even when they were submerged.

The land grew further and further away the deeper he went and Jaehyun’s hand made sure he wouldn’t drift away despite his inattention.

“Won’t I die?” He asked sullenly. He had never been to the sea but he knew there was no way he could follow his mate to its depths. He would drown, but even that was better that the fate the village had decided for him.

“You won’t. Trust me.” The sand caved in underneath his feet and he was bobbing up and down to keep his head above the waves but he felt light. Redeemed.

Jaehyun cradled his face between his hands and they felt different when wet, so much smoother and comforting. The world was but a mere buzz in his ears when he laid his head below the sea-dweller’s jaw, holding onto his mate with unyielding confidence right before he was pulled under.

“Take me home, Jaehyun.”

The sea was warmer under the surface and where he expected darkness there was light, clearer than any summer day, especially when Jaehyun locked their limbs together and filled his head with soothing music.

He was indeed home.


End file.
